Blind
by TheNocturne
Summary: Hoagie comforts Kuki when she needs it the most. Two-shot, Kuki/Wally with Kuki/Hoagie, Wally/Hoagie friendship.
1. Blind

**Tater06 made a comment a long time ago about the friendship between Kuki and Hoagie, and I was watching a show today (I don't even know the name, though, blech) that had two characters that remind me of Kuki and Hoagie. And they had such a warm friendship that I wanted to write this, to portray a friendship that had depth despite the obvious differences.**

**(Which is really weird, because after I had written this, when I came to log on and submit it, I saw that Kati has a 2/3 friendship piece planned soon. Totally strange. And you guys should check **_**hers**_** out when it's complete, because I'm sure it will be MUCH more amazing than this. . . weird. . . thing that I just threw together.)**

**I can see Hoagie being there when Kuki needs it the most. I can see them being really good friends when it really matters.**

**Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week. ♥ I hope to have the next chapter of "When I Close My Eyes" up in the next few days.**

**Disclaimer: I don't ownnn.**

**Love, Sadie**

--

Hoagie had never seen her so despondent.

The sunshine on her face had been overclouded by what seemed like a thick rainstorm, drizzling raindrops on her cheeks that resembled tears. The light in her eyes was gone, replaced with shadows and darkness and desolation. The quivering of her lower lip was enough to wrench at any observer's heart, and make them question what kind of _monster_ would take such a beautiful thing and shatter it.

But Hoagie knew what it was.

He watched her, shuffling her feet as though the energy to lift them upward did not exist, make her way into her bedroom with her head hung. It was such a sad scene that he felt his heartstrings pull with sympathy for the girl, and finally, with a shrug, he followed her scuffling sound down the hall and then rapped on her door lightly, calling her name aloud so that she was aware of who it was. She didn't answer for a few seconds, and then he heard a mournful, "Come in."

Bracing himself for a waterfall of tears, he opened the door and entered.

She was curled up on her bed, surrounded by a mountain of stuffed animals that nearly consumed her. The rainbow of colors in her room might have blinded him, had Hoagie not been used to her colorful ways. So he went and sat on the edge of her bed, feeling it give way underneath him, and then turned to face her, eyeing her tear-streaked cheeks and the puffy redness of her large, usually-twinkling eyes.

"What'd he do this time?" Neither of them needed to question who _he_ was – any crying from the girl normally revolved around the blonde Aussie.

Wally couldn't even know how much of her heart was placed in his palm. How every decision he made either enthralled her or crushed her. How all of her emotions were tied into him, and he alone had a grip on the strings that would determine how she felt. How every tear that cascaded toward the floor and burst into a million liquid fragments was because of _him_, because of his utter _obliviousness_ to her obvious affection.

She sat up, eyed him carefully, and then launched into her story in a voice barely above a whisper, occasionally interspersing her words with her squeaky brand of hiccups.

"H-he told me that I was, was stupid for liking my toys, a-and that I-I was childish." Hoagie could have guessed. Wally had a personal vendetta against her bubbling nature, and the fact that she spread her girly touch to all the corners of the earth simply by _breathing_. Hoagie couldn't keep track of how many times Wally had made the same kind of accusation.

And every time, she cried again.

For the first time in a long time, she didn't have one of her stuffed animals cradled in her arms. This could only mean, Hoagie figured, that he had deeply offended her this time, and that she was hesitant of her own unshakeable affection for the toys. Picking one up, a particularly bright yellow one, he handed it to her and gave her a warm smile, the kind that was perfect for cold winter days and chilly spring afternoons.

"Keep your chin up," he told her softly, as best as he knew how – after all, what boy _really_ knew how to comfort a weeping girl? "One day he's going to wake up and see that you're different, but that's why you're perfect. You're not like the other girls. You _shine_." He could see it himself in the way that she walked, and spoke, and threw her hand into the air when she knew something. There was a certain radiance there that the Aussie just hadn't recognized yet.

"You think so?" Her voice broke, and Hoagie almost smiled. So much of her revolved around Wally.

"I know so. He just. . . he's just a little blind right now. But he'll see."

And Hoagie knew that he would. He could see it in the way that Wally tolerated her hugs when she needed them most, and the way that Wally helped her dig through the garbage when her favorite rainbow monkey had accidentally been thrown out. He could see it in the special tone that Wally reserved just for Kuki – the one that was slightly softer, slightly more gentle, and slightly crackling with some kind of warmth that Wally himself would did not yet recognize.

Kuki gave him a watery smile and Hoagie made to leave her room, his work done. While he didn't have his affections set on the green-clad girl, he always missed a certain part of her that disappeared when she was glum. The part that laughed at his jokes, that brightened the treehouse, that said his name in a way that told him that he would always be considered her friend.

"Hoagie?"

He turned around to catch her eyes again, and was surprised to see her sunny smile resurfacing on her face. "Yeah?"

"I think you shine, too."


	2. Vision Restored

**I was going to wait until tomorrow to finish this, but eh. I got in a writing mood tonight.**

**Romance is great, but friendship is awesome, too. And I like healthy doses of both.**

**Thank you to all of my amazing reviewers. I don't always have the time to respond to everyone, and to that you all personally for your fantastic reviews, but I hope you know that I DO appreciate them. I love every single review that I get, and they help me feel more confident in my ability to become a future author. Thank you, thank you, a million times over and over again. ♥**

**I hope you enjoy this little story, and that you all have a fantastic week!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. Sad day.**

**Love, Sadie**

--

"Ugh!"

The halls echoed with the force of metal-on-metal collision as the locker door was unfairly thrown against the wall, bouncing back open slightly and creaking indignantly. The infuriated evildoer shoved it back into place again before sliding the lock into place and jamming it upward, storming away from the little rectangular space when he was certain that it was secure.

"Geez, the locker didn't do anything to you." The musing voice belonged to his friend, a friend that he was considering punching if that vaguely mocking tone was kept in the confines of his voice. Wally was pissed off enough as it was, he didn't need Hoagie to talk about lockers as though they had cruddy _feelings_.

But he settled for a sound of annoyance instead, a growl that was born from the deep caverns of his throat. "Shut up." Simple but effective, it was surprising that the response did nothing to make his friend drop the smile that he had. But, no, Hoagie kept on grinning, like he had a secret behind his lips that he would not share.

"You really need a new comeback. You've been using that since we were ten," Hoagie simply replied, digging his hands in the pockets of his worn-out jacket. Having sprouted from the chubby kid that he once was, the jacket was large on his now-lithe frame and hung heavily off of his shoulders. But he never got rid of it, claiming that it had 'sentimental value' or something of the sort. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or do I have to fish it out of you?"

"Her," Wally spit between his teeth, clenched tightly together. A memory flickered vaguely in the mind of his companion, one that echoed many years back in the colorful room of a deeply-saddened little girl. But he said nothing, and merely nodded, acknowledging that he was well-aware of the girl that Wally was referring to. "Going off after school with that. . . that . . . he's just using her!"

Not that Wally had any proof of that, but Hoagie knew well enough that bringing up such a fact was probably not a smart idea.

"Ace just invited her out for ice cream, it doesn't mean anything." Words meant to soothe the raging beast. Too bad that Wally would not be tamed, storming through the halls and leaving an earthquake behind him.

"It _always_ means something when it's _him_," Wally snarled, fury flashing through his eyes in an emerald flame. If only Kuki could have seen the effect that she held over the teenage boy. A simple word, a single decision could enrage him, and have him ranting the rest of the day. A smile, cast in the right direction, was enough to brighten his mood, to the point that the others noticed how weirdly happy he was.

But, of course, he denied everything.

Again, the flickering of a memory. Hoagie shrugged and shouldered his bag, beginning his walk down the sidewalk with the rampaging Australian teenager. He alone knew how to calm the stampeding bull, when no other person would attempt to try the same. Innocently, casually, he mentioned, "It doesn't mean anything on _her_ side, obviously."

The last word was put in there to catch his attention, and it worked. Wally's eyes darted over to him, to determine the meaning of his nonchalant suggestion. "'Obviously?'"

"You're so thick." Hoagie laughed aloud, letting the sound roll up his throat. He didn't know what it was about Kuki and Wally, the way that they danced around each other without really touching. Like there was a magnetic pull, but neither of them really noticed it. There had to be something chemical, or psychological, the way that they attracted each other while forcing each other apart at the same time.

During these thoughts, Wally was busy being affronted. "I am not!"

"Dude." Hoagie was done with the game. Time to crown the victor. "She likes _you_."

". . . What?"

"That girl has been focusing on _you_ since we were kids." It was all coming out now, a rush that Hoagie could not stop. A conviction. A need that he felt, to let Wally know what Kuki had gone through for so many years. "Every single time she ever cried, or laughed particularly loud, or felt her heart shatter into a million tiny pieces, it was because of _you_."

Wally was staring at him now, with widened eyes that were busy capturing memories and analyzing them with this new information. Flickers of emotion, flashes of understanding, and then suddenly he was alert, with his face full of shock and anxiety. "Are you for real?!"

"Would I lie to you?" Hoagie grinned, feeling a certain sweep of triumph.

"Have I ever told you how much you rock?" Wally was grinning with him now, looking as though he had just won the lottery. "I have to go talk to her! I'll see you later, mate!"

Laughing, Hoagie pushed his shoulder and waved his hand. "Go get her, tiger!" He didn't know how successful that Wally would be in his attempt to win her heart now. But he did know that he had started an avalanche, a reaction that would rain down and rumble and destroy until it had finally settled into a relationship that everyone else had been waiting years for.

Wally began to sprint away, down the sidewalk, with a sudden burst of energy that had come from the excitement of the future. He had only barely begun to disappear when he suddenly whirled around, practically jumping to turn a complete 180 degrees. "Hoagie!"

"Yeah?" shouted Hoagie in return, expecting some smart-aleck comment in return about how he needed to make the moves on Abby in return or something. He wouldn't put it past Wally to do something like that, just for kicks.

Instead, Wally held his hands and flashed six fingers at him. It had been their sign as children, because Hoagie's number and Wally's number had added up to six. Whenever they had made a secret no-girls-allowed club, or signed declarations as bold explorers, or made flags declaring their strength to the world, they had always signed it with the number six, to represent a bond of friendship that was undivided.

It was Wally's way of saying 'you and me,' through thick and thin. Two and Four, the inseparable team of thick-headed heroes.

Laughing, Hoagie held up six fingers himself, and Wally saluted him before bounding off again. In his peripheral vision, he could see that a few pedestrians had watched their exchange amusedly, and inside, he grinned.

They would never understand.


End file.
